With Welcome to the Blumhouse, Blumhouse and Amazon have teamed up to create a collection of genre films centered around family, either as a redemptive or destructive force. This week marks the final two movies released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video this year as part of their eight-film series; Nocturne and Evil Eye. The latter offers arguably the most distinct thriller of the bunch, applying a character-driven psychological horror twist to generational trauma.
Evil Eye centers around the strong bond between mother Usha (Sarita Choudhury) and daughter Pallavi (Sunita Mani). Living hemispheres apart, with Usha in India, and Pallavi in New Orleans, the pair spends hours daily talking over the phone through video calling apps. Though close, they couldn’t be any further apart in personality. Usha relies on horoscopes, astrology, and superstition, particularly when attempting to find her daughter a love match. The Americanized and career-minded Pallavi rolls her eyes at mom’s beliefs. When Pallavi finally meets the man of her dreams, mom should be elated. Instead, she’s convinced he’s the reincarnation of an evil man that attempted to kill her 30 years ago.
Written by Madhuri Shekar, based on her award-winning Audible original, directors Elan and Rajeev Dassani had the unenviable task of translating an audio-based story for a visual medium. Shekar’s original tale is relayed aurally through the phone conversations between mom and daughter. The filmmakers find innovative ways to make that more exciting for the screen. Because of the story’s structure and its unwavering focus on Usha and Pallavi, the horror elements creep in ever so slowly. Save for an intense opening; you might forget this is a genre film at all until the third act. Thanks to Choudhury and Mani, though, you probably won’t mind.
As the perspective shifts between Usha and Pallavi, and the more concerned Usha becomes over the too perfect Sandeep (Omar Maskati), a trickle of truth emerges that isolates Usha from her family. While Usha unravels and her sanity is continuously called into question, her family operates in a different movie altogether. They’re deeply concerned, but nothing is amiss as far as they can tell other than mom losing her grip. It’s this strange psychological contrast evocative of Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane, except without the visual language that lets you know you’re watching a thriller. The emphasis on drama works well for the character dynamics, but less so for selling the horror.
Luckily, Maskati knows precisely what kind of movie he’s in and switches between handsome charmer and icy psychopath with ease. His performance serves as welcome reminders that Evil Eye is indeed a Blumhouse feature. It’s only in the final twenty minutes or so that Maskati is allowed to go for broke on the villainous turn.
There’s a cultural specificity to Evil Eye and its relatable themes of generational trauma that resonate. Its trio of leads creates lived-in characters with compelling authenticity. As good as Maskati and Mani are, it’s Choudhury that carries most of the film as the tormented woman coming undone by her inability to shield her daughter from past terror. The Dassani brothers captured the heart of the audio play, which is the bond between mother and daughter, making an affecting feature that tugs at your heartstrings. It just forgot most of the genre elements along the way.
Evil Eye, along with Nocturne, is available to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video as of October 13, 2020.
